CIA tortured me in Iraq, claims freed Iranian
diplomat

This article linked from: antiwar.com
(as are many posts seen in this NG)

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,2052599,00.html

Allegations spark fresh speculation of secret deal

Robert Tait in Tehran and Gaby Hinsliff

The Observer April 8, 2007

An Iranian diplomat who was freed last week, two
months after being seized in Iraq, said yesterday
that he had been tortured by the CIA while in
captivity at an Iraqi government installation.

The claims by Jalal Sharafi on Iranian state
television will lead to fresh speculation that the
diplomat was freed as part of a deal to secure
Wednesday's release of 15 British servicemen seized
by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The allegations also come amid continuing political
fall-out over the two-week hostage crisis in both
London and Tehran, with both Iran's President,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Prime Minister Tony Blair
being criticised for their behaviour during the
stand-off.

While Sharafi's claims are very similar to those
made by the servicemen on their return to Britain,
the recent US history of renditions, kidnapping and
abuse make them difficult to ignore.

Although US officials denied yesterday any role in
Sharafi's abduction, his release has led inevitably
to suspicion that it was part of a secret deal that
has also seen US forces grant access to five other
detained Iranians in Iraq.

Sharafi was kidnapped in February by gunmen wearing
Iraqi army uniforms. When he was released on Tuesday,
Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said the
diplomat was in good health but 'did not know who
had held him'.

Sharafi, however, says he was abducted by agents
bearing Iraqi Defence Ministry ID cards. He said he
was taken to a base near Baghdad airport, where he
was questioned in Arabic and English.

'Questions asked by CIA agents were about the
presence and influence of Iran in Iraq. They asked
questions about the amount of aid Iran provided to
the government of [Iraqi Prime Minister] al-Maliki,
Shia, Sunni and Kurdish groups,' he said.

'When they were faced with my answers about the
official relationship of Iran with the Iraqi
government and officials, they increased the
tortures. Many days they tortured me day and night,'
he said.

And as Britain and Iran continued to swap
accusations, evidence was emerging in Tehran that
both conservative and reformist Iranians were
increasingly disillusioned with Ahmadinejad, arguing
that the televised scenes of the Iranian President
personally greeting the bemused Britons moments after
announcing their release had brought ridicule on the
country's Islamic system.

A fundamentalist MP, Emad Afrough - chairman of the
Iranian parliament's powerful cultural committee -
denounced the performance as 'inappropriate': 'It is
not befitting for any government that the entire
cabinet bids farewell to 15 military personnel who
had hitherto been recognised as invaders of Iran's
territorial waters,' he told The Observer

The criticism was echoed by Saeed Leylaz, a
pro-reformist commentator, who said: 'The origin of
this show has been the humiliation of the country of
Iran. You capture people and then you send them out
with suits, shirts, sweets and gifts to take back to
Britain. It's embarrassing.'

Ahmadinejad - who has come under pressure over Iran's
worsening economy - was thought at first to have
wrong-footed his critics with the theatrically
staged ceremony last Wednesday.

The political fall-out was not limited to Iran. In
London, too, friction has emerged between Downing
Street and the Foreign Office amid claims that the
tougher line taken by Tony Blair may have delayed
the release of woman sailor Faye Turney.

Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, has faced
accusations that she was sidelined during the drama,
leaving the Prime Minister's foreign policy adviser,
Nigel Sheinwald, to make the real breakthrough.
However, this weekend friends insisted the Foreign
Office's 'softly-softly' approach had paid off.

Whitehall sources disclosed that the parading of
Turney had backfired on Iran in the Arab world,
costing it the support of Muslim countries who
believed it was wrong for a woman to be held captive.

Syria was among influential neighbours that helped
pressure Iran into releasing the sailors, while the
Turkish Prime Minister also interceded on Britain's
behalf.

This article linked from: antiwar.com
(as are many posts seen in this NG)

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,2052599,00.html